1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to apparatus for removing the casings of sausages and more particularly to an apparatus for slitting casing surfaces, peeling the casings from a chain of sausages, and removing the slit casings to a remote location.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well-known that sausages are manufactured as a continuous string, the individual lengths of each sausage being separated by a ligature or a twisted portion of the continuous tube of casing material within which the meat of the sausage is disposed. After formation of the string of sausages, they are subject to various processes such as curing or smoking. Thereafter, the individual sausages are separated. One technique for separating sausages which are sold in skinless form is to remove the casings. Since the casings are made up of a continuous tube of casing material, removal of the casing will result directly in separation of the individual sausages.
The most commonly adopted technique to accomplish separation is to cause the sausages to move as a string against a slitting knife which forms a longitudinal slit in the casing and thereafter to cause the string with the slit casing to pass across a perforated wheel, the interior of which is exposed to a vacuum. Thus, the casings are drawn across the wheel as the wheel rotates while the individual sausages pass tangentially beyond the wheel. Typical of such arrangement is that described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,312,995 issued Apr. 11, 1967, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Another technique in treating sausages and the like is to provide a sausage peeling apparatus having a path of travel for a string of sausages, a knife assembly and a vacuum wheel which is effective to remove slit casings from the sausages. In such an arrangement, there is provided a guide element for guiding the sausages relative to the knife assembly which affects the longitudinal slitting process and in which the guide assembly includes an insert which can be removed and replaced to accommodate different sizes of sausages. Such an apparatus is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,118,828 issued Oct. 10, 1978, the contents of which are also incorporated herein by reference.
A major problem in the industry has been the handling of sausages of different sizes which cover a considerable range. Other problems are associated with the complexity of prior art devices which has tended to render the disassembly of the equipment for cleaning purposes extremely difficult.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for peeling sausages in a consistent manner utilizing blade tensioning and movement restricting means to consistently split the casings and to provide an apparatus which is simple and easily assembled and disassembled for servicing and cleaning purposes.